Blue Moon Blocking A Sunset

Geometry Level 1

Consider a circle inscribed in a semi-circle.

Which is larger, the blue area or the yellow area?

Yellow area Equal Blue area

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1 solution

Nihar Mahajan
Mar 10, 2016

First note that radius of the blue circle is half the radius of the semicircle. Let r r be radius of blue circle and hence , the radius of semicircle is 2 r 2r . So ,

Area of blue circle = π r 2 =\boxed{\pi r^2}

Area of semicircle = π ( 2 r ) 2 2 = 4 π r 2 2 = 2 π r 2 =\dfrac{\pi(2r)^2}{2} = \dfrac{4\pi r^2}{2} =2\pi r^2

Area of yellow region = (Area of semicircle) - (Area of blue circle) = 2 π r 2 π r 2 = π r 2 =2\pi r^2-\pi r^2 = \boxed{\pi r^2}

Clearly , Area of blue circle=Area of yellow region = π r 2 = \boxed{\pi r^2} .

Moderator note:

Simple standard approach.

Other than calculating the exact area, is there a way to tell that they are equal?

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 3 months ago

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I thought for a while , I did not find any :(

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 3 months ago

I did the same as you did.. Is there any other approach?

Razik Ridzuan - 5 years, 3 months ago

I answered the question intuitively but, does that constitute a formal proof? I mean, how can you prove that the diameter of the big circle passes exactly through the center of the smaller, inscribed circle?

Solomon Hailu - 5 years, 3 months ago

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That's a good question. Thoughts?

Maybe this wiki will be helpful.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 3 months ago

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